Kertomus vastasyntyneenä hylätystä tyttölapsesta, tämän elämästä 1950-80-lukujen Iranissa ja tietysti Iranin vallankumouksesta ja sitä edeltävistä tendensseistä.

Teoriassa tosi kiinnostava ja kiehtova romaani, mutta tosi epätasainen, liian hortoileva ja kaunokirjallisesti köykäinen kokonaisuus. Kunnianhimoa tässä oli ja hyviäkin elementtejä, mut ei toiminut mulle. Kesti neljä kuukautta lukea, kertonee jotain...... Dialogi oli aivan erityisen surkeaa, kun taas Teheranissa vieraileminen alkoi kyllä kiinnostaa entistä enemmän.

This book contained so much. I felt so many things reading this book.

When it comes to books that tell the story of someone's entire life, I either love it or hate it. In novels like the Kite Runner and Jane Eyre I find the pacing very off. "Aria" by Nazanine Hozar gets it just right. Rather than it being a story with one distinct plot (which a single life cannot have, life does not work that way), the life of Aria is told through moments. This meant the book contained such brilliant images. Hozar's prose was so beautiful. An excellent discussion of how living through history can get in the way of what you want from life, or even ruin it. Abuse, and how it affects a child is also dealt with well. And we see an excellent portrayal of how bigotry relating to various minorities can be passed down to children. Iranian politics was a driving force in the novel, and since Iranian feminism is something I am studying as part of my degree, it really gave me a sense of what Tehran was like in a variety of decades. The book did not pretend to have the easy answer to the riddle of Iranian politics, but rather expressed its complexities.


However, I found the narrative fragmented at the beginning. The book switches point of view regulary, and it took me a very long time to feel attached to any of the character, and to get sucked into the book. However this was a minor issue as I was intrigued enough by Hozar's writing and the plot to keep going.

This was a tough book to get through. Some parts dragged on, but there was magic in some of the scenes that will be unforgettable. The pain of this story was worthwhile, and I’m interested to research more information based on this time period.

Overall it is a good book. It was just a really long story but I got attached to Aria and had to know how it ended. Also a good literary depiction of “seven degrees of separation.” Close to the end it got really dark, really fast

Really enjoyed this story and the characters.

well written story but i didn’t connect with it at all

Great story- wish I knew more about Iran tho